His sister Kim Yo-jong and the country’s nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam are also said to have attended.

Kim Jong-un “showed much interest during the show and asked questions about the songs and lyrics”, the South’s Culture Minister Do Jong-hwan told journalists.

Mr Kim has agreed to hold summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump.

He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week during his first foreign trip as leader.

The third inter-Korean summit – there were also meetings in 2000 and 2007 – is due to be held on 27 April. No date has been set for the US-North Korean summit.

Meanwhile, the US and South Korea have begun their annual military drills, which have been scaled down compared with previous years as both countries prepare for talks with North Korea.

Although nearly 300,000 South Korean troops and 24,000 American troops will take part, the drill will be a month shorter than usual and will not involve nuclear submarines.

In the past, the drills have infuriated North Korea but correspondents say that this time Pyongyang is keeping relatively quiet. Mr Kim reportedly told visiting South Korean officials that he understood that the exercises had to go ahead.